Staff having access to change benefits due to their position and acting on behalf of the household is a direct conflict of interest.

Verification:
The identity of an authorized representative is a mandatory verification. See VERIFICATION.

Alternative Card Holders:
An authorized representative does not receive a Quest card or have the ability to access the AU's benefits. If a client needs someone outside of their AU to access the benefits, see information on Alternate Card Holders in BENEFIT ISSUANCES.

Individuals who have Power of Attorney for a client:

If an individual has Power of Attorney for a client, the person can be the client's authorized representative without the client having to specifically designate them as the authorized representative.

If an individual has limited Power of Attorney, the Power of Attorney document must specifically give the person authority to act on the client's behalf for managing financial matters. If the document doesn't give the person this authority, the client must name the person as their authorized representative if they want them to act on their behalf.

ACES does not monitor or create reports on individuals who are authorized representatives for multiple cases. If you learn that a person is an authorized representative for multiple AUs and suspect the representative is misusing the client's benefits, refer the case to the Office of Fraud Accountability. See FRAUD.

When a facility acts as an authorized representative for persons in a group home or chemical dependency treatment facility, one person from the facility usually acts on behalf of all the clients in that facility or group home.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) regulates the facilities in their use of client's Basic Food benefits. The following expectations are listed for information only. Upon leaving a group home or treatment facility, a Basic Food client is entitled to at least one-half of the Basic Food benefits if the client leaves before the 16th of the month and part of the benefits have already been spent on behalf of the client.

Persons currently disqualified for an Intentional Program Violation (IPV) may not be an authorized representative for Basic Food.

In most cases, the disqualification of an authorized representative takes place as the result of a fraud investigation.

IPVs from Washington and other states are also captured in USDA Food and Nutrition Service's Electronic Disqualified Recipient Subsystem (eDRS).

The head of household for the food assistance AU may request an administrative hearing when the person they have named as their authorized representative is disqualified from being an authorized representative. See ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS.

When you learn than a current Authorized Representative or one newly selected by the household has an IPV, Use letter 050-01 General Correspondence to inform both the client and the authorized representative of the disqualification action.

Inform the client why the authorized representative is disqualified and of the client's right to an administrative hearing.